The USYS Eastern Regional Championship took place June 25 - July 1 in Hammonton, NJ at EDP Soccer’s premier facility, Tuckahoe Turf Farms. The event featured 297 teams, 190 of those teams from EDP Soccer Leagues, the majority of those coming from the USYS National League Conferences managed by EDP Soccer. These teams come from the New England Conference, North Atlantic Conference, Mid Atlantic Conference and South Atlantic Conference, and represent 9 State Associations. The 13U-19/20U winners earned a spot at the 2021 US Youth Soccer National Championships in Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida on July 20 - July 25. In total, 11 teams from the USYS National League Conferences managed by EDP Soccer were crowned champions.
A look at some of the USYS National League Conferences team’s results:
13U Boys Brentwood 2008 Premier Man City, the NY-E State Cup Champions and winner of the USYS North Atlantic Club v Club division, got off to a slow start at the event, losing to USYS Mid Atlantic Conference Champion PSA National 08 in their first match, but then found their form, winning their next two games to advance out of the group stage. Brentwood defeated Torpedoes SC in the quarterfinal, and Lower Merion SC Thunder in the semi-final in double overtime before taking on Beadling SC 2008 Showcase of the USYS Great Lakes Conference in the final. In the final, Brentwood would once again end regulation with a tie score after being up 3-1 with 10 minutes left. The game would go to penalty kicks, and Brentwood would come out on top to be crowned champions.
13U Girls FC Somers Lady Hammers, who won the USYS North Atlantic National League Premier I division on the final day of the season, reached the final after going 2-0-1 in group play, and defeating Beadling SC 2008 Showcase of the USYS Great Lakes Conference in the semi-final. New England Surf Navy of the USYS New England Conference and MA State Cup Champions defeated NJ State Cup Champions NLSA 3-1 in the semi-final round to reach the final. In the final, New England Surf cemented their place as the region's top team, coming away with a 5-2 win, and booking their spot at Nationals.
14U Boys New York Hota Bavarian SC 07 was defeated 2-0 by PA Dominion FC in their final group stage game, but reached the knockout stage as a wildcard. In the knockout stage, the side defeated USYS Mid Atlantic Conference and NJ State Cup Champion SC Vistula Garfield Lewandowski 2-0 to reach the final. On the other side of the knockout bracket, PDA Hibernian Scholes defeated PA Dominion FC 07 playing a man down in the quarterfinals after a red card. PDA Hibernian was unable to continue their run, as they were defeated by PA-E State Cup finalist Villanova SA in the semi-final. In the final between NY Hota and Villanova SA, it was Villanova who was better on the day, and after a heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks in the state cup final, the side would not be denied in the regional final, and came away with a 3-0 victory to earn their spot at Nationals.
14U Girls As it was in the boys 14U age group, all of the semi-finalists in the 14U Girls division were from the USYS National League Conferences, managed by EDP Soccer. In the first semi-final, NY Surf G07 Academy, who reached the regionals by winning the North Atlantic Conference, defeated PA-E State Cup Champions Keystone Athletic 07. In the other semi-final, NJ State Cup Champions Dynamite Academy 2007G defeated MD State Cup Champions Coppermine SC 2007 Premier in penalty kicks. In the final, Dynamite Academy would claim the club’s first ever regional title with a 4-2 victory.
15U Boys CT State Cup Champions AC Connecticut was one of the top teams throughout the event, dominating the group stage before winning a very close quarterfinal, and then defeating North Atlantic Conference Champions Dix Hills SC Ultimatum 5-2 in the semi-final. In the final, AC Connecticut would come up just short, losing in a tight contest to the VA State Cup Champions.
15U Girls In a rematch of the 2019 Regional Final, it was once again Real Jersey FC 2006 taking on CT Rush Elite 2006 Girls in this year's final. Real Jersey FC reached the final allowing no goals in the group stage or their quarterfinal match, which they won 1-0 over Mid Atlantic Conference foe FC Revolution Reds. In their semi-final match, they defeated CT State Cup Champions and New England Conference member Yankee United FC Attack 4-1. CT Rush Elite made the final after defeating PA-E State Cup Champions in the quarterfinal, and NY Surf G06 in the semi-final. In the final, Real Jersey FC got out to a quick lead and never looked back, putting in a dominating performance to repeat as Regional Champions.
16U Boys PA Dominion FC 05 was finally able to get over the hump against in-state rival Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 05 in the semi-finals. In Mid Atlantic Conference league play, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals won the match up 2-0, and in the State Cup, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals knocked out PA Dominion in the first round. However, this time it was PA Dominion’s high pressing 4-3-3 that was able to turn the table, scoring five goals on the way to a 5-2 victory to book their spot in the final. In the final, PA Dominion capped off their impressive run with a 2-1 win, and will be the club’s second team to reach Nationals this season, with both them and the 04s attending.
16U Girls In the quarterfinals, NY-E State Cup Champion Coliseum Inferno lost an extremely tight match up to upstate NY rival Syracuse Development Academy 05, who would then beat NY-W rival Empire SA Girls to reach the final. In the final, Syracuse Development Academy 05 would take on Pittsburgh SC Hotspurs of the USYS Great Lakes Conference, and with Pittsburgh SC Hotspurs up 3-2 late in the game, Syracuse came back to tie it with less than a minute to go to take the game into overtime. Pittsburgh SC Hotspurs would eventually go on to win the tightly-contested match and clinch their berth at Nationals.
17U Boys PA Dominion FC, hungry to repeat as Regional Champions and make it back to the national final as they did in 2019, battled through the group of death to reach the final. In their opener, they defeated NY-E State Cup Champions Long Island Slammers 3-2, in a game that was back and forth the entire match. They then defeated NJ State Cup Champions PDA Hibernian Modric to reach the knockout round where they would defeat Cedar Stars Academy Newark and Syracuse Development Academy. On the other side of the bracket, PA-E State Cup Champions won an overtime thriller 5-3 in their quarterfinal match with FC Somers Arsenal, but their run finished in the semi-final when they came up against a very talented New England Surf 2004 State Grey side. With both New England Surf and PA Dominion through to Nationals due to PA Dominion winning their division in the National League Playoff, the final was still an intense battle, as the teams traded goals, with PA Dominion FC coming back twice to tie the game at 1-1 and 2-2 before New England Surf pulled away late to win by the final score of 4-2.
17U Girls The final was a battle between rivals from central PA, with Penn FC 2004 Lightning taking on Eagle FC 04G Black. Penn FC 2004 Lightning defeated SDA Utica Blasters 2-0 in their semi-final, while Eagle FC edged New England Surf State Navy in their semi-final. In the final, it was the PA-E State Cup Champions Penn FC who would claim another championship winning the match 3-1.
18U Boys The semi-final featured four teams from the USYS National League Conference managed by EDP Soccer. TSF Academy 03, who reached regionals by winning the Mid Atlantic Conference after losing in the state cup semi-final, and reached the final by defeating Maryland powerhouse Bethesda SC 3-1. Peninsula SC Premier Eagles, who defeated TSF in the state cup before winning the NJ State Cup Championship, so their run came up short in overtime in a 3-2 defeat to SYC Lions Blue. SYC took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but Peninsula battled back to tie the game at 2-2 and take the game to overtime, where SYC found the winner. In the final, it was SYC who was able to carry the momentum of their exciting overtime semi-final win, and they came away with a 3-0 victory.
18U Girls The semi-finals featured two match-ups of PA-E vs NY-W, with each state association winning one. PA-E State Cup champion Keystone FC Premier 03G, loaded with NCAA Division I college commits, reached the final with a close win over NY Rush Select, and Syracuse Development Academy 2003 Girls defeated PA-E State Cup finalist Warrington SC Fusion 2003G 3-1. In the final, Keystone FC was too much for Syracuse Development to handle, as the PA-E champs won the high-scoring affair, and now set their sights on finishing the year with a National Championship.
19U/20U Boys Bethesda SC Blue 2002 went 2-0-1 in the group stage, and was one of three Maryland teams from the USYS South Atlantic Conference to reach the knockout stage. In their quarterfinal game, they came up against LVU-FPA 2001, who had more than 50% of their starters from NCAA Division I programs, and were able to come out with a big 5-2 victory, and carried that momentum through the semi-final and into the final. In the final, Bethesda SC would come up just short against the VA State Cup Champions.
19U/20U Girls The final was a match-up between two former National League Conference sides, whose players returned from college for a shot at a National Championship. The match featured 1776 United 01, who won the Regional Championship back in 2019, and BC United 01, who finished as a Regional semi-finalist that season. In the final, 1776 United jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and the game finished 3-1 for 1776 United to repeat as Regional Champions and return to the National Championships.
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